If Clayton Kershaw continues to pitch like this, he just might play a pivotal role in helping the Dodgers reach the playoffs.

But if the rookie left-hander continues to pitch like this, he also will force them to make an agonizing decision once they get there.

Backed by more offensive support than a Dodgers starter should ever count on, Kershaw pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career, and the Dodgers ran their well-timed winning streak to four games with an 8-4 victory over the suddenly hapless San Diego Padres in front of 39,330 on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

Kershaw flirted for a while with a no-hitter, then flirted a little longer with what would have been his first career shutout. But after failing to close the deal on either of those, Kershaw settled for a performance that answered any question as to his readiness to pitch on the pressure-packed stage of September with a division title on the line.

The question now is how long he can continue to pitch on that stage. Or more to the point, how long he will be allowed to.

As far back as April, weeks before Kershaw was recalled from Double-A Jacksonville for the first time on May 24, Dodgers manager Joe Torre made it clear the organization’s star prospect and former first-round draft choice would be held to a strict limit of no more than 170 innings this season – and that was to include the minor- league season, the major-league season and any postseason play in which Kershaw happened to be involved.

Now, with Kershaw an every-fifth-day fixture in the Dodgers’ rotation with 23 games remaining on the Dodgers’ regular-season scheduleand with the Dodgers still holding out a very legitimate hope of playing beyond their Sept. 28 finale – they now trail division-leading Arizona by just 13 innings, and club officials are sitting squarely on the horns of a dilemma.

“My arm feels great,” Kershaw said. “Obviously, the coaching staff knows what is best for me more than I do. But for me, I want to pitch every fifth day and go as deep in the game as I can.”

If he continues to go as deep as he went in this one, he will hit his predetermined limit in his final regular-season start, roughly scheduled for Sept. 26 at San Francisco. But what happens if the Dodgers do make the playoffs? Does Kershaw, who potentially would have been a key figure in getting them there, get left off the postseason roster?

“I can’t see that happening,” he said. “If I pitch well, I think I’ll still get my chance. But at the same time, who knows? In the playoffs, sometimes, you don’t need five starters. We haven’t gotten to that point yet. For now, I’ll take the ball every fifth day.”

Torre was non-committal when asked if Kershaw’s innings limit is flexible.

“It’s still something we’re looking at,” Torre said. “If it’s something we need to address later on, we will do that. Right now, we’re just trying to win.”

Hypothetically, if the Dodgers (69-70) do make the playoffs, and if they go only with a three- or four-man rotation when they get there, Kershaw figures to be the odd man out among a group that is stacked with accomplished veterans (Greg Maddux, Derek Lowe), a rookie-in-name-only with a wealth of experience (Hiroki Kuroda) and another young pitcher who already is arguably the ace of this staff (Chad Billingsley). But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a spot for Kershaw in the bullpen. He did make a couple of relief appearances at Jacksonville this year, part of a pacing program he was kept on early in the season to conserve his innings.

That pacing program might be paying dividends now. Rookies, pitchers and position players alike, tend to struggle in September out of sheer fatigue. The minor-league season ends on Labor Day, or within a week or two thereafter for playoff teams, and that extra month tacked onto an already long season can be daunting for players who aren’t used to it.

So far, that hasn’t been a problem for Kershaw (3-5).

“We kept him to 25 innings the first month, and really (each of) the first two months, and that was the whole point,” Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. “You can see that his potential and his stuff are off the charts, and we’re just very aware of everything about him. We’re not going to do one thing to endanger his career or his future just for a win.”

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